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Constipation is a common problem. It is related to an imbalance in Vata dosha, and its subdosha, Apana Vata. Apana is downward moving and governs elimination and menses. An imbalance in apana vata can cause dryness and sluggishness of bowel functioning.

If you are Vata in nature, you may be more susceptible to constipation. Because Vata increases in the body after the age of 60, constipation is more common among older people.

If you have a tendency towards constipation, you want to avoid the following factors, which aggravate Apana Vata:

AVOID

Lack of exercise

Not drinking enough fluids

Dry, rough foods

Stress (a major cause of vata imbalance)

Multi-tasking

Eating heavy meals at night

Here are some general recommendations to avoid constipation:

DO

Go to bed early (before 10:00 pm) and rise early (before 6:00)

Drink plenty of fluids. Warm fluids are ideal. The general rule is to drink half your body weight in ounces each day. Drinking two glasses of warm water when you wake up can help stimulate bowl functioning. Hot water with black salt is sometimes recommended.

Eat fresh fruit juices are also helpful.

Eat cooked apples for breakfast. Try soaking raisins over night. Enjoy both the “raisin water” and the plump raisins in the morning.

Be sure to sit for 10 minutes after finishing a meal to support the digestive process.

Eat your main meal at noon.

Try to get in at least a half hour walk every day. Taking a walk after lunch (after first sitting for 10 minutes when your meal is finished) is ideal.

Gentle stretching exercise such as Yoga asanas and Sun Salutations help pacify Vata dosha and the twisting motions can massage the digestive organs and increase oxygen delivery and blood flow. Regular yoga can be very helpful in having more regular bowel activity.

Look to your diet—are you getting plenty of fiber? Vegetables, fruits and whole grains are high in fiber. Cheese, eggs, meat, packaged foods and overly refined foods can lead to constipation. Cold foods and drinks will interfere with digestion, leading to the build up of ama and causing constipation. Get to know which foods are vata aggravating and avoid them.

Warm oil massages in the morning before your bath or shower can help pacify Vata dosha.

Traveling can aggravate Vata, causing constipation. Eating lightly, drinking plenty of water, a warm oil massage and taking Maharishi Ayurveda Products Digest Tone or triphala with warm water will help keep Vata in line when traveling.

If you have chronic constipation, you probably have compromised a digestion. If home remedies are not helping, consider that it is time for Panchakarma, the Ayurveda series of detoxification treatments.

While the body has its own brilliant systems for the elimination of impurities, with chronic constipation the body can’t keep pace with the rate in which toxins (ama) build up in the tissues, cells and joints. According to Ayurveda, toxins or ama clog the system and form a breeding ground for disease. A 3 to 7-day cleansing program can start to remove the build-up of ama and restart your digestive process.

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The special healing quality of honey has been acknowledged throughout history. From the Charaka Samhita, the original textbook of Ayurveda, to the Ebers Papyrus of ancient Egypt, to the writings of Hippocrates, honey has been recognized as having significant medicinal properties. Raw honey is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal. It contains significant amounts of: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, C, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulfur, and phosphate. Taken in its proper form, honey is one of nature’s most healing substances.

But honey can also have a toxic effect in the physiology. This happens when we eat honey that has been heated far above the normal temperatures of a beehive. Heating past the maximum hive temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit changes honey’s essential composition and degrades its quality. Many of the healthful organic compounds and enzymes in honey are destroyed or inhibited by heat.

The ancient Ayurvedic texts warn that during the heating (including baking or cooking) process, honey becomes hardened and difficult to digest. The toxin created by heated honey causes the shrotas, or fine channels of the physiology, to become clogged, blocking the flow of intelligence in the body. According to Ayurveda, this specific kind of ama is very difficult to remove by simple detox methods, such as sipping hot water, home oil massage or exercising. If you have a history of eating heated honey, you may want to consider Panchakarma treatments (Ayurveda detoxification treatments).

Given this knowledge, it is best to only buy raw honey (honey that is unheated and minimally processed) and to never use honey when cooking meals or baking. Check carefully breads, cereal or other other packaged foods to be sure they do not contain honey. Many health-conscious bakeries and companies now use honey, thinking it is better than sugar. Also, most commercial honey you see in supermarkets is not raw honey. Read your labels carefully to make sure the honey you purchase has not been heated or pasteurized.

If you like to add honey to tea or milk, don’t do so while it is boiling. Wait until your beverage has cooled to a temperature that is comfortable for sipping before adding honey as a sweetener.

A consultation using Ayurveda pulse assessment can help determine if you have problems with ama. For more information visit The Raj Ayurveda Health Spa:

Over the years, many guests at The Raj have asked us where Ayurveda fits in with modern medicine.

Modern modern medicine has made important and impressive advances in its management of certain categories of disease such as infectious, surgical, and endocrine disorders. In some cases, however, the modern medical approach does not deal with the root causes of the illness, but rather attempts to correct ill health on the level of the symptoms.

For example, in treating hypertension, drugs are often used to lower blood pressure. But if drug is removed, the blood pressure often returns to its previously elevated state. This is because the medicine did not remove the root cause of the disorder. Not only can this approach allow the underlying disease process to go unchecked, new disorders may emerge in the form of side effects from the medication.

The Ayurveda approach to health is highly suitable for many disorders of modern times, which are recognized to have their roots in abnormalities of diet, lifestyle, and environmental influences, and stress. Research and clinical findings suggest that Maharishi Ayurveda may be the best first-line approach to the prevention and treatment of many of these common illnesses.

Ayurveda views the body not merely as a sophisticated machine, but as a physical expression of an underlying field of intelligence. Ironically, this ancient perspective is actually more in tune with the unified field theories of quantum physics (describing the most fundamental levels of nature’s functioning) than modern medicine. Maharishi Ayurveda identifies this unified field of all the laws of nature as pure consciousness, and postulates that this field can be experienced by the human nervous system as the simplest form of human awareness.

In contrast to the view of contemporary medicine, Maharishi Ayurveda does not regard consciousness as a product of the nervous system. Rather, it sees consciousness as the basis of, and that which gives rise to the entire physiology.

Because of this perspective, Ayurveda understands that the relationship between man and nature is central to the maintenance and promotion of ideal health. Enlivening health in a person is understood to be a process of enlivening the wisdom and the intelligence of nature inherent in every individual. The skill of the Ayurveda expert lies not in “healing”, but in setting up those conditions that allow nature’s healing to take place most effortlessly.

The therapeutic strategies of Maharishi Ayurveda, such as Panchakarma, the Transcendental Meditation technique, Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems, etc., are understood as strategies that enliven the innate self-repair mechanisms of our bodies.

Panchakarma treatments involve a sophisticated system of purification and detoxification treatments that help to eliminate and prevent the accumulation of physiological impurities. Different procedures are utilized according to the type of imbalance present. Once the imbalance is removed, the body’s own healing mechanisms can begin to function in their normal manner. The rejuvenation and detoxification treatments in and of themselves do not “cure” the disorder. They simply support and promote the activity of the body’s innate self-repair mechanisms.

This mental technique allows the active mind to settle down and experience its least excited state, pure consciousness. Extensive research has documents a broad range of beneficial effects of TM on the mind, body, behavior and environment. These include the lowering of hypertension, 48% reduction in death, heart attack and stroke and the reduction of trait anxiety.

When suitable light shines through a gemstones such as diamonds, emeralds, rubies, blue sapphires and yellow sapphires, the molecular characteristics and healing properties of the gems get imprinted in the specific frequencies (spectrum) of the transmitted light, and then transferred to the body—enlivening the body’s innate intelligence and restoring balance and health to the physiology.

For more information on Panchakarma, the TM technique or Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems and other Maharishi Ayurveda approaches to health, visit The Raj Ayurveda Health Spa:

As the temperature cools, many people find themselves bothered by vata disorders such as anxiety, tension, insomnia, constipation and aching joints. Vata dosha gets aggravated during cold, dry, windy weather because the nature of vata itself is dry, cold, light and active. To avoid the winter chills and to keep vata in check, try these recommendations:

1. Drink plenty of hot water. Sipping hot water frequently throughout the day will help you accomplish two things: pacify vata and dissolve ama, the sticky waste-product of improper digestion that can clog the channels of your body.

3. Get more rest than usual. Because the nature of vata is active and restless, one the best ways to balance vata is to get extra sleep. With the sun rising later and setting earlier in the day, there are fewer hours of daylight. This is a signal from Nature to spend more time resting.

Remember that according to Ayurveda you gain a better quality of rest if you fall asleep before 10:00 p.m. and rise before 6:00 a.m. If you need more than eight hours of sleep, try going to bed earlier rather than sleeping in. Sleeping late in the morning can lead to blockages of the shrotas, the channels of the body through which the natural intelligence of the body flows. This can aggravate both vata and kapha and can throw off the biological rhythms of your body.

4. Exercise daily. Exercise increases circulation, improves your appetite and raises your body temperature. If it is too cold to go outside, go to the gym, use indoor equipment or exercise DVDs—or just dance around your house. Be careful not to overdo it, though. You should adjust the amount and intensity of exercise to fit your individual needs. If your level of exercise is such that you can not breath comfortably through your nose, you may be taxing your physiology and actually increasing vata.

5. Keep your head and ears covered when outside. Ears are one of the main seats of vata. Protecting your ears and head from the wind and cold will make being outside in winter a more healthful experience.

6. Do daily abhyanga (Ayurvedic oil massage). Abhyanga is especially soothing for vata dosha because your skin is a primary seat of vata.

8. Enjoy Panchakarma (Ayurvedic massage and detoxification therapies). Winter is a good time to schedule a week of treatment at The Raj. While the cold wind blows outside, you can stay warm and cozy, enjoying soothing, warm herbalized oil and relaxing massages. Also, undergoing Panchakarma before the holiday seasons can put in you the right frame of mind to enjoy the holidays without binge eating or straying from a healthful diet and routine.

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As we observed last week, whatever we take in through our five senses gets transformed into our own physiology—in essence, we metabolize our environment. Even if we buy only organic food and prepare it freshly each day, it is almost impossible to completely escape toxic exposure from plastics, pesticides and additives to our water and household products. The air we breathe, the rains that falls, often even the furniture we sit on, are all full of harmful chemicals.

Dangerous compounds like insecticides, PCB’s, heavy metals, benzene, dioxin, phthalates, pesticides, DDT metabolites, flame retardants, styrene, xylene and dichlorobenzene have routinely been found in blood and stool samples, not just in the US, but around the world.

Back in 2005, the American Red Cross took samples of fetal cord blood from 10 newborns and found a shocking 287 chemicals inside the samples, including dioxins, phthalates, pesticides, Teflon byproducts, mercury, lead, flame retardants, DDT (a pesticide that was banned in the us over 25 years ago, and many others.

This toxic burden has a high cost in terms of our health: these chemicals can lead to cancer, infertility, weight gain, severe inflammation, accelerated aging, liver damage, and more.

What can we do?

Yearly Panchakarma treatments

A study on the traditional Ayurveda detoxification treatments (Panchakarma) given at The Raj Ayurveda Health Center was published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine in its September/October 2002. It showed that a 5-day program greatly reduced the levels of 14 important lipophilic (fat-soluble) toxic and carcinogenic chemicals in the body, chemicals which would otherwise remain in the body for a very long time.

This study represents a great breakthrough, being the first ever to find significant reductions in these harmful toxins in a short period of time. Lipophilic toxicants can cause hormone disruption, immune system suppression, reproductive disorders, and several types of cancer. While other methods of detoxification can target water-soluble toxicants, no other method of detox offers a timely and viable solution to the removal of these pervasive, disease-causing chemicals.

Daily home oil massage with warm sesame oil or olive oil (depending on your body type) can help modify the build up of chemicals in the system.

Add Turmeric to Your Diet

Turmeric used predominantly in Indian cuisine, has dozens of health benefits, including acting as a powerful, all-natural anti-inflammatory agent. Your liver acts as a natural detoxifier. Turmeric can assist your liver’s enzymes in flushing out toxins from your body.

A poor functioning liver can make your feel lethargic as it is responsible for the elimination of drugs, pesticides, and environmental chemicals from your body.

In addition to helping you maintain a healthy functioning liver, research indicates curcumin, a chemical found in turmeric may help inflammation. Turmeric has been shown to help relieve pain in those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and who have painful swelling in the knees. Many diseases, such as colon cancer and other types of cancer, are now being traced to inflammation.

Curcumin is fat-soluble. Taking the essential ingredients of turmeric in pill-form does not allow for the full absorbtion of turmeric’s healing properties. The best way to use turmeric is to use it in cooking. Once you heat oil and add turmeric to it, it becomes completely bio-available to you.

Eat Cruciferous Vegetables

Cruciferous vegetables contain a naturally occurring ingredient called 3,3′-Diindolylmethane or DIM for short. DIM is strongly anti-estrogenic, so it helps block xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens are environmental toxins that mimic the effect of estrogen in cells, altering hormonal activity and creating estrogen dominant symptoms.

Xenoestrogens can lead to uterine fibroid tumors and fibrocystic breasts, glandular dysfunction, weight gain, inability to shed fat, hair loss and depression, lowered libido and impotency, to name just a few.

DIM not only wards of off bad estrogen, it also acts as an immunostimulant, naturally “boosting” your immune system —and research now indicates it had various potent cancer-fighting properties.

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The ultimate goal of all Ayurveda modalities is to restore balance to the level of biological intelligence in the body and allow the free flow of communication and circulation. This allows perfect coherence of the body’s innate healing mechanisms.

Ayurveda believes that the functioning of the body breaks down as impurities and toxins (caused by diet and poor digestion, stress, environmental toxins and other factors) accumulate in the cells and tissues. Over time these impurities begin to block various channels of the body (blood vessels, lymph circulation, capillaries, cellular pores, etc), limiting the flow of biological intelligence.

Panchakarma is one of the specialties of Ayurveda. Literally translated as “five actions”, Panchakarma is series of integrated procedures that, together, dislodge impurities from the tissues and cells and flush them from the body. This sequence of massage, heat treatments and internal cleansing helps to balance the doshas and allows for a more normalized flow of nutrients, blood, hormones, etc. Developed thousands of years ago to give long life to the the rulers of India, Panchakarma is the cornerstone of rejuvenation programs at The Raj Ayurveda Health Spa.

Panchakarma provides the ultimate mind-body healing experience. It restores the connection of any weak or diseased area of the body with the mechanisms of biological intelligence responsible for healing. Sounds intense? It is surprisingly luxurious and gentle, especially considering the profound results that this ancient detoxification treatment provides.

Studies on the effects of Panchakarma have shown reductions in cholesterol levels and a decreased risk of heart disease. Many doctors recommend PK to their patients as a follow-up to chemotherapy, once the patient has regained his or her strength. (The Raj Ayurveda Health Spa recommends allowing 6 months from the end of one’s chemotherapy treatments or radiation treatments before undergoing any Ayurvedic massages and therapies.) Guests have also reported relief from fatigue, depression, digestive disorders, and stress.

A study published in the Sept./Oct. 2002 issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicineshowed that a 5-day course of Panchakarma treatment decreased blood levels of fat-soluble toxins (such as DDE, PCBs and dioxins) by 50%. Western medicine offers no means of removing these harmful chemicals, which are associated with hormone disruption and immune system suppression.

Panchakarma treatments can be taken for as few as 3 and as many as 30 consecutive days. Participants always begin with a consultation with an Ayurvedic expert who then creates a customized program based on their individual levels of balance and imbalance.

Panchakarma uses three types of therapies:

1) The first group stimulates the release of toxins from the cells using various types of massage, many of which involve herbalized oil.

2) The second group uses heat to dilate the channels of the body, allowing the impurities that were loosened through oil massage to be drawn into the intestinal tracts.

3) The sequence ends with a gentle internal cleansing treatments consisting of either warm herbalized oil or water-based decoctions.

This sequence of treatment occurs every day. As an example, one day may start with an herbalized sesame oil massage followed by an herbalized steam treatment, ending with gentle elimination therapy. Another day may begin with a massage with warm rice and milk packs, followed by Shirodhara, the pouring of warm oil over the forehead, followed by elimination therapy. Treatments will vary from day to day, depending on one’s needs.

Never had detoxing felt so good! Sometimes it is hard to remember that behind the pampering there is a powerful restructuring of the physiology taking place. Even though I’m ready to take on the world after my treatments, it’s better to take it slow for a week or so after you return home, so the body has a chance to integrate all the changes.

For me, my yearly treatment is my opportunity to reset my diet and my daily habits. To make the most of your PK treatments, a low-fat, vegetarian diet is recommended starting one week before, and continuing through treatments. If I’ve gotten into any bad habits during the year (sugar, snacks, late nights on the computer) I emerge from my treatments with a new resolve. And the new state of balance in my physiology naturally helps to support that resolve.

I’ve managed to have Panchakarma treatments once a year for the last 25 years. It is like spring-cleaning for one’s house. I can’t imagine going without.

Today let’s talk about ojas and ama. According to Ayurveda, ojas is the most subtle and powerful substance in the body. Maharishi Ayurveda takes ojas to another level: the material expression of the self-interacting dynamics of consciousness. It is what allows the nonmaterial intelligence to communicate with the material physiology. In other words, it is the substance that connects the mind and body to consciousness.

Ojas is the finest, the most refined by-product of digestion. It nourishes all body tissues and has a direct influence on the nature and quality of physical, mental and emotional life. It is the subtle substance that maintains life itself. When your physiology produces the optimum quality and quantity of ojas, you feel healthy and blissful. Your mind/body is getting the sustenance it needs to function at optimum levels. Ojas is characterized by health, happiness, lightness, immunity and overall strength in the body.

Ojas’ primary location is the heart, from where it circulates to and pervades the entire body.

The opposite of ojas is ama, the sticky end product of undigested food. Ama lowers immunity as it spreads throughout the physiology and it clogs the channels that carry nourishment to the cells and the channels that remove wastes. It also blocks the micro-channels that are part of the immune system, making us susceptible to infection. Maintaining a healthy digestive fire, or “agni”, is one of the most important principles of Ayurveda. A strong and effective digestion allows us to absorb the nutrients and essential elements needed by our physiology and at the same time effectively burns of waste products. If our agni is weak and our food is not digested properly, toxic residue, or ama, builds up in our tissues and cells.

For this reason, the number one recommendation for maintaining robust health is to put attention on maintaining good digestion. As the season transitions from summer to fall, the influence of Vata increases and the quality of Vata in our own physiology can become imbalanced. Vata is the responsible for all motion-related process in the body, including digestion and elimination. Fall and early winter are especially important times to be alert to our diet and digestion.

Enhancing ojas and removing and preventing the build up of ama are the basis of good health, and it is the goal of all treatments and therapies of Maharishi Ayurveda.

Panchakarma, the traditional detoxification and purification therapies of Ayurveda, are designed to eliminate ama and increase the flow of ojas. The Ayurvedic texts describe this process as “strota shuddi”—”opening the channels of communication”. Panchakarma keeps every part of the body in contact with nature’s innate balancing and healing process.

Regular consolations are also helpful. An Ayurvedic expert can evaluate the levels of ojas and ama in your physiology using the Ayurveda technique of Pulse Assessment. Seasonal transitions are a good time to schedule a consultation and get recommendations to tune up your diet and lifestyle so that you can avoid colds and the flu in the coming season.

Over the next two weeks I’ll look once again into how to maintain good digestion and also review the mechanics of Panchakarma. For more information about Panchakarma or to schedule a consultation, visit website for The Raj Ayurveda Health Spa:

The transition from summer to fall reflects huge changes both in climactic and doshic influences, and can have a significant effect on your health. As the fall season begins, Pitta dosha, which has been accumulating over the summer months, gives way to a rise in Vata dosha. It is not uncommon at this time to see an upsurge of Pitta disorders, particularly skin disorders, allergies, eye problems and digestive disturbances. This is because the influence of Vata, which is moving and changeable by nature, is causing underlying accumulated imbalances to rise to the surface.

Hay fever, which is particularly common during the transition of summer to fall, is basically an imbalance in the immune system (a condition called immune hyperactivity.) It is also a natural mechanism through which the body purifies itself of accumulated impurities related to digestive (Pitta) imbalances.

Remember that the external summer heat causes a decrease in our internal digestive fire. This can give rise to an accumulation of impurities if we do not adjust our diet to accommodate our diminished capacity for digestion.

The transition from summer to fall is an ideal time to go through the classical detoxification and purification treatments of Ayurveda, known as Panchakarma. These therapies strengthen the physiology and remove accumulated impurities.

This is also a good time to avoid foods that are difficult to digest, such as cheese, nonvegetarian foods, processed foods and cold drinks and ice cream.

To pacify the rising influence of Vata, go to bed on time, wake with the rising sun, give yourself a daily oil massage, eat at regular times and be regular with your mediation practice.

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According to Ayurveda, the eyes are one of the main seats of Pitta dosha. Pitta governs heat, metabolism and transformation. Whenever our eyes are open, they are involved in the complex process of transforming light into ideas: distilling foreground from background, recognizing objects presented in a wide range of orientations, and accurately interpreting spatial cues. In fact, researchers estimate that the human retina can transmit visual input at about the same rate as an Ethernet connection, at roughly 10 million bits per second.
Given the Pitta nature of our eyes, it follows that they become sensitive and irritated when we are exposed to excess heat. Whether you have a lot of Pitta in your constitution or not, everyone should put attention on pacifying or cooling Pitta during the summer, and take extra caution in protecting their eyes.Tips For Protecting Your Eyes in the Summer
Wear sunglasses and a hat during the day. Bright light can actually cause an inflammatory response in the eyes which can lead to damage of the optic nerve. Sunglasses can also help protect the eyes from the dust and other environmental particles that increase in the summer months.
Cool compresses can help draw out Pitta from the eyes. There is a reason for the traditional spa image of a lady relaxing with slices of cucumbers over her eyes. Cucumbers not only have high water content, they also have an anti-inflammatory effect. Cotton balls with sprayed with rose or chamomile water can also be used as compresses to reduce heat in the eyes.
Air conditioning, dry winds and dust can cause eye dryness or irritation. If your eyes are feeling dry, see an Ayurvedic expert regarding lubrication for the eyes, and drink lots of room temperature water and fluids.
Getting a good night’s sleep will help refresh and rejuvenate the eyes.
During the Pitta season, everyone should eat a Pitta reducing diet, even if Pitta is not your main dosha. Increase your intake of vegetables and fruits. Cucumbers, cilantro, dill, fennel are all are very cooling. Rice, especially white basmati rice, and barley are ideal grains for summer. Emphasize foods that are liquid rather than dry, and cool or lukewarm rather than hot.
Stress, anger, anxiety, alcohol, spicy food, pollution will all increase your risk for eye irritationNetra Tarpana
Netra Tarpana is a special Ayurveda treatment that strengthens and protects the eyes against the sun’s rays, relieves tired, achy eyes, and improves vision. This treatment is known to be very rejuvenating for the eyes and is an ancient remedy for many eye and sight ailments.
Freshly made dough rings filled with fragrant oils are placed around the eyes, and gently filled with herbal healing to bathe and lubricate the eyes and surrounding area. As a side benefit, Netra Tarpana also helps address sagging around the eyes and crows feet.Ayurveda Consultations
Burning, red, or bloodshot eyes, extreme sensitivity to light, and a yellowish tinge in the whites of the eyes are all signs of excess Pitta circulating in the system. If you have any of these symptoms, it is best to consult with an Ayurvedic expert.

To schedule a consultation with an Ayurveda expert or to learn more about Ayurveda treatments, visit The Raj Ayurveda Health Spa:www.theraj.com

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To drink milk or not to drink milk? Advocates on either side of the milk debate are adamant in their arguments. Funnily enough, Ayurveda agrees with both sides. According to the ancient Ayurveda text book, the Charika Samhita, the misuse of milk turns the nature of milk from sattvic to tamasic. Sattva is a state of lightness, balance and clarity, and, in terms of food, strengthening and nourishing. Tamas, on the other hand, reflects dullness and confusion. By compromising the essential qualities of milk we can turn a health-supporting food into one that can lead to ill health, congestion and allergies.

Ayurveda experts recommend cows milk, taken in the correct manner, as a satvic and nourishing food. Accordingly, milk provides special and unique nutrition that cannot be derived from any other type of food. When digested properly, milk is able to nourish all the tissues within 24 hours. It also helps to balance the doshas, especially Vata and Pitta. It is also one of the most important foods to promote ojas.

Ojas is said to be the refined substance that the body produces at the most subtle level of proper digestion. Ojas brings strength, strong immunity and contentment to the whole mind/body system.

Ayurveda experts point out that many of the problems associated with digesting milk are in fact linked to the way in which milk is consumed and how it is processed. Cold milk, ice cream and cheese are indeed very heavy and difficult to digest. Following a few simple guidelines will help address many of the problems associated with drinking milk.

If you boil milk before drinking it (even if the milk has already been pasteurized) the milk will not only be lighter and easier to digest but it will also create less congestion. Boiling milk is a must, even if you do not have difficulty digesting milk.

In addition, you can add heating spices (such as ginger, turmeric, clove, cinnamon and cardamom) to milk before boiling it. These spices help to enhance our digestive fires and also help reduce Kapha dosha, lessening the tendency toward congestion. An added benefit is that the milk will act as a carrier for the spices, thus allowing the physiology to gain more benefits from the health-promoting herbs.

Milk should never be mixed or eaten with sour, bitter, salty, astringent, or pungent tastes. This means the traditional American lunch consisting of a glass of cold milk with a sandwich should be avoided. Milk should either be taken separately from meals by at least one half hour or taken only with other sweet tastes (such as breakfast cereal, toast, rice, dates, mangos and almonds.) Be careful not to add sour fruits to your breakfast cereal or to drink fruit juices with your cereal. When combined with incompatible tastes, milk becomes indigestible and causes the build-up of harmful toxins in the body.

Dishes made from cooking milk with fish or meat should also be avoided (such as clam chowder).

Milk (or yogurt or cottage cheese) combined with bananas can be extremely difficult to digest and can lead to congestion and head colds.

Ideally any milk that we drink should be organic, whole and non-homogenized. Non-homogenized because homogenized milk is very difficult to digest and can easily clog the finer channels of circulation. Whole milk because the fats in whole milk build and balance the nervous system and act as carriers to deliver the calcium and fat soluble Vitamins A, D3, E and K directly into the cells.

If you are not able to purchase organic milk, however, it is better to drink skim milk, as many hormones and chemicals are fat-soluble and will be transferred into your physiology via the fat.

Even if you do not notice ill effects of drinking milk, if you have a long habit of drinking cold milk or drinking milk along with foods of other tastes, it is probable that you have a build-up of ama, or toxins, in your tissues. This can lead to joint pain, constipation, dullness, lowered immunity, frequent colds and imbalances that can lead to chronic disorders.

An ayurvedic expert can determine which type of toxin is in the body and where it is located. This is very important, because any treatment plan will be different depending on the type of toxin and where it has settled. For more information on consultations or for information on the detox therapies of Panchakarma, visit website for The Raj Ayurveda Health Spa and Treatment Center:

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